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There are few times that the world comes together to celebrate, cheer and honor its people – the Olympics is one of those occasions. This global event has the power to unify the world and inspire peace for a moment in time. To celebrate this extraordinary event and its athletes in your own corner of the world, host an Olympic Family Reunion! Everyone can be a gold medal athlete at your Family Reunion Olympic Games. No training is required; all you need is the desire to have a good time. Enjoy classic Winter and Summer events plus amusing twists in “Silly Olympic”contests. This Olympic reunion includes more than 40 pages of tips, tricks and shortcuts for “Owning the Podium” at your next Olympic games.

I love finding a new game to share with my family and friends and the game I’m sharing today is a good one. Simple to put together and simple to play. This version of the “stump game” can be played by everyone and we call it “Nail It”.

Nail It Game Tools

To play you need a tree stump, as many nails as there are players, and one hammer. The nails we used are pictured below.

How to Play the Nail It Game

Everyone puts their nail into the stump just enough for it to stand nice and sturdy (in the order that you are standing in the circle). Each player then “claims” a nail by placing his or her finger on the nail to claim it as theirs. This will be his nail for the duration of the game. It is generally understood that people will claim the nail directly in front of them.

The first player taps the hammer two times on the stump and then takes a swing at any of the nails but their own. They either hit the nail or miss the nail- either way the hammer is then passed to the next person in the circle and they repeat.

Winning the Game

The goal is to hit everyone else’s nail until it is flush with the stump and to be the last nail standing. A player is eliminated from the game (and thereby takes no more turns) once any part of the head of his nail passes below the level of the surface of the stump (including bending over the edge of the stump without actually entering it). Use your fingernail to test if the nail is flush.

It is common for the winner of the game, should he choose to do so, to drive his own nail fully into the stump in a victory drive.

I have to say I was a surprised when, doing research for this blog, found that the “stump” game is actually a drinking game. So, as a disclaimer, let me say that we have played this game and never, at any time, have we had to have a can of beer in our hand to have fun playing it. It’s a great game for family members of most ages and abilities. Sometimes the most powerful hammer swingers are the worst players.

Nail It Game Tips:

*You may all stand or all sit to play*Keep your face a safe distance from the stump so you don’t get hit in the head.*Be careful reaching across the stump to hit a nail- you may hit your palm on a nail and it doesn’t feel very good.*Choose good, sturdy nails- too small and some players can drive them in one swing.

I’ve never gotten too excited about all the “giant” yard games you find on the internet but a couple of weeks ago I actually saw a giant Yahtzee game. I got to touch it, roll the dice and count up my score and I thought, “Hey this would be fun for our next family reunion!” (I think that about a lot of things)

Giant Yardzee is pretty simple to make. You’ll need 5 dice cut from 4″x”4″ fence posts. Cut each cube to 3.5 inches to make a perfect cube.Sand as necessary and paint in bright colors. To make dots use a circle template to paint them on or use stickers or circles cut with a 1 inch hole punch.

This is a very cute bucket to store Yardzee score cards and markers in but a 5 gallon bucket is more practical as it will also hold your dice.

We have a Independence Day tradition in our family- Whenever we get together for a family or reunion or party around Independence Day we play the “Silver Dollar” game. The Silver Dollar game is a game my Mom invented to encourage us to remember our American history and important United States facts.

Mom would ask a US history question and the first one to get the answer right would get a sliver dollar. Mom has a fun way off tossing the silver dollar to the winner- I’m not sure how to describe, it but basically she just tosses it to the family member that has the correct answer to the question.

Plan to play the Silver Dollar game at your Independence Day family reunion or party. Don’t have Silver Dollars? How about using 50 states quarters, red, white and blue taffy, or patriotic pencils?

Warning: If your family is competitive, like mine is, you may have to assign someone to be the judge and determine who is the first to raise their hand and watch out- even if you do get the answer right someone may just reach out and snatch your prize right out of the air, Oh well, it’s just part of the game and family fun!

Below are a list of questions you can use for your Silver Dollar game:

Small Town Parades

My favorite parades are those in small communities. The parade in our town is only two blocks long and lasts about 20 minutes, but we always arrive early so we can get a front row seat. We don’t want to miss those great family floats!

When I was growing up we always had a Hooton family float. My Mom and her sister would design and make a float for all of my Grandparents’ grandkids to ride on. I don’t remember a lot of the details about creating the float but I do remember having lots of fun with my cousins. I also liked getting a free ticket to the local movie theater and 25 cents to buy a treat which was the prize for having an award winning float.

Highlight Your Family

Having a family float in a local parade can be a fun activity for your family reunion. It’s also a great way for Grandma and Grandpa to show off their posterity. The Brown family counted all their posterity and celebrated by building the family float pictured below.

Here’s some tips to having a great family reunion float:

Register Your Float or Parade Entry

#1. Be sure to register your float with the parade committee in advance. Find out the specifics about entering before you begin building your parade float. Some parades have restrictions about throwing candy or passing out flyers so find out the rules and safety requirements.

#2. Once you know the size requirements and approved vehicles for floats, you will need to find either a truck and trailer or flatbed that you can use as a base for your float. If you don’t have access to a truck and trailer let your family ride their bikes or walk in the parade. Children in the family can dress in their team uniforms, dance costumes or school shirts and ride decorated bikes in the parade.

Another option is to put everyone in matching family reunion shirts and make a banner with your family name on it. Give everyone a helium balloon and wah la- you have a “walking” family reunion float. Like they say, sometimes- “less is more”.

#3. Make sure you have plenty of help when assembling your float. You will have to build your float in a few hours so you will need to be organized. Be sure you have all supplies on hand.

#4. Money is probably going to be an issue for your family reunion float but floats don’t have to cost a lot of money to be fun. There are inexpensive supplies that you can use to make a fun float. Colored butcher paper, paint, cardboard, straw bales and balloons can create a very nice float. Cut out props from the cardboard boxes. Try making props more three dimensional by using folds or tape and glue. Make them big, the bigger the better, because your float will be viewed from a distance. Paint these props colorfully and be sure to adequately secure them to the vehicle or trailer. Balloons are a great filler as are colorful crepe paper streamers. Make skirting to cover the sides and wheels by wrapping and securing colored butcher paper with tape and a staple gun.

#5. Last of all, be sure you have a safe driver for your float. Grandpa is a good option if he doesn’t already have an assignment. After you have put your family reunion float together with crepe paper, balloons and staples, all that’s left is to add your family.

Getting to Know You Game

Take a bag of M&M’s or Skittles candy and tell everyone to grab a handful…or specify a number (I prefer this if you have a large group so it doesn’t take so long- I suggest each family member take 4 or 5 candies) You might also choose to split up in smaller groups such as children under 12, 12 and over, young adults etc. if you have a larger group such as a family reunion.

Assign a different meaning to each color, blue= family, green=hobbies, yellow=animals, brown= work or school etc. Participants must tell one thing about themselves for how many candies they have in their hands using the colors as their guide. They may also eat them as they share their information. (“Blue…I have two sisters.”, then eats the candy. “Yellow…I have a dog named Kodi.”, and eats the candy etc.)If you have two or more of the same color you have to tell one thing per candy regardless the color.

This is a good ice breaker because you can play it as soon as your party is supposed to start and those that come a little late can participate when they arrive.

A slight variation to the game is have participates tell things that make them, happy, sad, angry, excited or afraid.

You can create a fun pencil and paper game using the names of the cities and towns in your state. It’s pretty simple to do, especially if you get a few people together to brainstorm with you. Things might get a little silly as you match up clues and cities but in the end you should have 20- 25 clues for your next reunion or party.

Utah Cities and Towns Game

Here’s the game we made for our state, Utah. Hopefully our ideas will help you create a game for your state. The first part is the clue the second part is the city or town name that matches the clue.

Scavenger hunts can be a fun addition to any family reunion or party. We’ve included several fun scavenger ideas in this blog that can easily be personalized to your own situation. Scavenger hunts aren’t just for kids though- teenagers and young adults love scavenger hunts too.

Video Scavenger Hunt

Divide everyone into 2 or more teams. Give each team a list of video-taping scenarios such as those in the list below. Be sure each team has a way to take videos and that phones or cameras are completely charged. Most importantly, set a time limit, so that you don’t have dead time waiting for everyone to return.

Once you’ve gathered your teams, your clues and your video equipment, each team takes off in their cars or on foot and attempts to complete all of the tasks on their list. The first team to complete all tasks on the list is the winner.

Provide popcorn or other treats as you watch the videos. Consider giving prizes for the most creative videos and best actors.

Puzzle Treasure Hunt

Take a picture of where the treasure will be hidden. Cut up the picture of the location into several pieces. (The older the participants the more pieces)

Hide the pieces in a designated area. Players search for the pieces then try to assemble the puzzle to get the prize or treasure.

Sandbox Treasure Hunt

Sandbox treasure hunts are tried and true hunts. Hide pennies, nickels and quarters in sand or saw dust. Be sure and keep the sawdust and sand contained in a #10 tub, children’s pool or on a sheet of plastic.

Who’s Got the Key? Treasure Hunt

Gather as many spare keys that you can find. You will need a lot of keys so ask family members to bring their keys also. You can purchase large lots of key blanks on eBay for under $10.00. Hardware stores that make keys usually keep a bucket of reject keys that they are often happy to get rid. Buy a lock and key. Put the lock on a treasure chest or box of some sort with a hidden treasure in it. Hide all of the keys including the key that will open the lock. Everyone searches for a key, when they find a key they try it in the lock- if it doesn’t work they search for another key until someone finds the correct key and opens the treasure.

Nature Scavenger Hunt

This is a great idea for the younger children in your family. Gather 12 random things from your yard, reunion site or party location. Take pictures of the items and print on cardstock. Glue to the top of an egg carton and send them out to find the items. The egg carton provides the perfect place to store the items they find.

A more complicated version of a nature scavenger hunt is pictured below. The drawing next to each item make the hunt a little easier. This type of hunt could be used for an entire day can be a way to entertain kids when they aren’t excited about other activities that might be planned.

Digital Camera Treasure Hunt- idea 1

This is such a fun idea for a family reunion. You’ll need one digital camera or phone with camera for each team. Give each team a list of things to take pictures of. If you want to put a family history spin on this hunt, challenge teams to find:

Someone who served in a war

Oldest relative at the reunion

Youngest relative at the reunion

Relative that has won a trophy

Someone that had a rotary dial phone

Relative who came the farthest distance to the reunion

Someone who has lived out of the country

The couple that has been married the longest

You get the idea- it’s fun to really make teams talk to their older relatives to find out the information. Be sure and take a team picture with each relative.

Digital Camera Treasure Hunt- idea 2

Cousin Bobbie planned a digital camera hunt as part of our Thanksgiving fun a few years ago. We had to find as many things on our list as possible, take a picture of them and return back to the meeting area and determine the winner. We had to find things like a scarecrow, pumpkin, cat, turkey and Christmas lights.

“I Spy” Scavenger Hunt for Weddings and Receptions

Provide a list of “I Spy” photo opportunities and a disposable camera on each table. As guest eat their refreshments they can look for the list and snap a picture. These photos will give the bride and groom a different perspective of the wedding festivities. A printable list such as the one below is available on Etsy.

Scavenger Hunt Clues Using Pictures

Take a picture of the location of a hidden clue but only take a portion of the picture. In the example below you can see that just a portion of the word is shown. You could do part of a clock, drinking fountain, corner of tent, a car wheel with interesting rims etc. When the hunters figure out what the clue is a picture of they run to that location to get their next picture clue and so on until they find the treasure. This does take some advance planning but makes for fun hunt for even the very young that may not be good readers.

Secret Codes Hunt

Writing secret codes is another way to generate clues. Using numbers in place of letters is an easy way to create the code (1=a, 2=b, etc.), but using a backwards letter code can make things a little extra challenging. Decipher the clue to find out where to look for their next clue.

Urban Race Scavenger Hunt

As a Youth Council advisor for our town, I had the fun opportunity to participate in a Great Urban Race at Utah State University. The teenagers learned a lot about the university by unscrambling clues and completing challenges to complete the race. The kids loved it and I couldn’t help but think what a fun activity it could be for a family reunion, especially if you held your reunion in a town that your family had ties to.

Urban Race is the team race that’s part photo hunt and part trivia. Teams must solve clues to find checkpoints throughout the city. To move on they must take photos or perform certain tasks to earn points such as collecting:

A restaurant napkin

A get a take-out menu from a Chinese restaurant

A disposable toilet seat cover

A stranger’s autograph

A coupon

A copy of the front page of the local newspaper

A change of address card from the post-office

The fun part of an urban race is that the use of cellphones is okay. Teams may call family members left back at the reunion site to get help with difficult trivia. Everyone gets a chance to participate in the fun.

Riddle Clues

The most difficult part of a treasure or scavenger hunt for me is making up the clues, it’s also time consuming. I found a website that can help with that- it’s called “Riddle Me”. They have over Over 10,000 Riddles on 1,200 objects and can target different age groups and types of gatherings. Their program also lets you be in control over the time of the activity, because it lets you decide how many clues to print in a scavenger hunt.

Friday night is pizza and game night at my house. We have our favorite games and we have our favorite pizza but some nights we’re in the mood to try something new. I know where to find new pizza combinations and now I know where to find new game ideas.

If you’re looking for a game to play you should check out this new game site- Party Games 411. It’s a very simple site to use and a marvelous resource for party planners.

I plan a lot of parties and family reunions and I am always looking for a new game or activity. I search the web trying to find ideas but this site is the easiest way I’ve found.

Search for a Game

1. Enter the number of players and the location (inside or outside) that the game will be played. For instance, I searched for an indoor or outdoor game for 80 people and it gave me 40 possible games we could play.

2. You can also search for games alphabetically.

3. You can search for particular game by entering the name of it.

Each game gives you recommended ages and game requirements and easy to understand rules and instructions.

Games, Games, Games

You will find ideas for card games, team building games, tag games, mind games, party games, large group games and so much more. So next time you ask, “What game should we play?” check out Party Games 411.

When I was a young girl I loved playing “Fox and Geese” with my brothers in the snow. Mostly, I liked making the paths and geese nests because when it came right down to playing the game, I wasn’t a fast runner and was usually the fox for the majority of the game.

My husband likes to play “Fox and Geese” too so when we had a couple years ago when we had a snow party for my family we were excited to share this game of tag with my nieces and nephews.

How To Play Fox and Geese

The game of Fox and Geese is played in the snow where the players clear paths in the snow. As I have learned, in the “olden days”, the paths were made in the shape of a spoked wheel, but most of the fun for us has been to make our creative paths with special safety zone “nests” scattered throughout the paths.

Make Fox and Goose Trails

It’s best to play Fox and Geese when there is fresh snow on the ground or at least snow that no v one has been walking on. To make paths or trails, walk through the snow packing it down until it makes a clearing defined trail. Make several goose nests that are safety zones for the geese to get away from the fox. These are just a circle of packed down snow big enough for one person to stand in a time. You don’t want too many goose nests or it will be difficult for the fox to catch a goose.

How to Play Fox and Geese

Choose one person to be the fox. The fox tries to tag the rest of the players, who are the geese. All the players must stay within the boundaries of the paths. Whoever is tagged by the fox then becomes the fox and has to chase the geese. Only one goose can be in a nest at a time. If you have a big group playing you may have more than one fox.

A “No Snow” Alternative

An alternative to playing in the snow is to mark four squares on the playground, each 10 feet across. Every player stands on one of the lines forming the square. A signal is given, and the person who is “it” has 10 seconds to touch as many players as he/she can. Players who are tagged sit down in the marked area. All players must stay on the lines while being chased.

Fox and Geese Board Game

Another Fox and Geese Variation that I have recently become aware of is a “Fox and Geese” board game. It’s an old-time game using marbles. Fox chases Geese. Geese try to hem Fox in. If you’re from the country, you understand the strategy. Then game is available here and in the family reunion helper store.